Dittander

dittander one of the more puzzling herb names. Geoffrey Grigson (1955) quotes Turner (1548) as saying that the name properly belonged to Dictamnus albus, pepperwort in English and Pfefferkraut in German; and added that the old form ‘dittany’, which it should have replaced, remained obstinately in currency. Other authors link either or both names with cress and other herb families. Thus Karen Hess (1981), Facciola (1990), and Tucker (1994) all identify ‘dittany of Crete’ with Origanum dictamnus.

It is thus no easy matter, when considering recipes for preparations like greensauce, to determine what a reference to either dittander or dittany really signifies.